Aspiring lawyer Pervaiz used the PayPal account of a friend’s grandfather between February 2015 and December 2016 to receive thousands of pounds in payments, before transferring the ill-gotten gains into her own account. Legal Cheek understands that Pervaiz was, until recently, in the process of completing her training contract at a local firm with the hopes of becoming an immigration solicitor.

Her barrister, Citadel Chambers’ Amanda O’Mara, told the court that Pervaiz knew of the impact this would have on her solicitor plans, according to the Mail Online. She continued:

“She is a law student who will not be able to follow her career any more… She fully accepts her responsibility and criminal behaviour over this time period.”

Judge Simon Drew QC, who bailed Pervaiz to return for sentencing in November, described how she had lied “consistently, repeatedly, not only to the complainant — the grandfather — but also the police as well”.

But is Pervaiz’s legal career really all but over? A Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) spokesperson told Legal Cheek that every application to the profession “is dealt with on its merits”, and that there “are no convictions or otherwise that lead to an automatic refusal”.

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